Lawmaker: Missouri department fails to report welfare cut effects

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker is asking why reports about cuts to welfare benefits to the poor that were championed by Republicans aren't being done as required.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Sen. Jake Hummel, of St. Louis, said the department charged with overseeing the reductions hadn't produced a report as of Wednesday. Legislation passed two years ago limited the length of time families could receive benefits and added other requirements.

Hummel says the situation is "unacceptable" because without a report there's no way to analyze the effects of the cuts.

A Missouri Department of Social Services official suggested in an email to Hummel that the report may have been forgotten in the transition to Gov . Eric Greitens' administration. An agency spokeswoman couldn't be reached for comment by the Post-Dispatch.